Operation FIRESTORM
by XXBlueDude2XX
Summary: This is the story of WolfPack, a team of Spartans based off my friends and my own characters.  The Human-Covenant war may be over, but there is still the remainder of the Covenant Remnants alive and they will not rest until humanity is destroyed.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is a story about me (Jack Johnson) and my friends(other Spartans), and there mission to save the UNSC. I tried to make it as canonical as possible, and keep to my friends personalities, though I did do a little bit of tweaking.

Operation FIRESTORM

Chapter 1

The date is 2564, my name is Jack Johnson. I am 32 years old, about 6' 4", and I am a Captain in the UNSC NavSpecWep division, with the Spartan project. I am a Spartan II and have my own modified version of MJOLNIR Rogue.

I am Spartan BC-1720, call-sign RogueShadow.

Space Station: The Day Before. Location: Sol System, awaiting arrival of Fleet: United we Stand

At 0600, as my superior requested I reported to conference room H-38. Wondering what was going on I open the door and looked in. What I saw amazed me "This must be pretty big" I thought. Inside the room sitting at the table was Fleet Admiral Hood, Admiral Keyes, Fleet Master R'tas 'Vadum, and Arbiter Thel 'Vadum. "Sit down Rogue, we have a mission for you", said Keyes. I sat down at the table, happy to be out of armor, for it would have crushed the chair. "Alright what exactly are we talking about here" I asked. "About three days ago four NOVA Bombs were stolen from a UNSC convoy on its way to Mars to be used on a new Assault-class Dreadnought, by the United Rebel Front, we want you to get them back" replied Keyes. "If the URF has them then who knows what they're going to use them for" I said. "Our contacts implicate the URF will sell them to the Covenant Remnants" explained Hood. "If the Covenant gets their hands on the bombs they are sure to use them against humanity" R'tas added. "Well on a mission this big I prefer to have backup" I replied. "That is why we're assigning the WolfPack strike team to this mission as well" countered Keyes. "And who are they exactly"? I inquired. "An elite strike group with a reputation rivaling you own" said Hood. "They consist of the Leader Don Caos, Spartan CO-300, call-sign IceWolf, Sniper John McCloud, Spartan LR-213, call-sign StarFox, Medical Officer Arvo Shultz, Spartan MD-911, call-sign PainKiller" Keyes explained, "You will be the new leader of this team, and will assume command immediately". "Alright, and will there be anything else before I go suit up, and rearm"? I asked, standing up, about to leave. "Yes there is one more addition to your team, a Covenant Separatist Spec-Ops team led by Sangheili Silever Vardum, and six spec-ops Unggoy" replied R'tas. "Well the more the merrier sir" I said and saluted, then left for the armory to meet and greet my new team. Once I got there, I realized I was a bit early so the rest weren't here yet, so I began to select my loadout. I pulled over a cart and began to look over the massive selection. There were racks of M6Gs, Ma5K carbines, Ma5C ICWS assault rifles, M90 CAWS Mk As, M7 CSMGs, SRS 99D-S2 AMs, M392 DMRs, and their brothers BR55HB SR battle rifles. There was also some heavier stuff here, such as containers of M41 SSR MAV/AWs, W/AV M6 G/GNRs, M319 IGLs, and M7057 DPs. There was even a LAU-65D/SGM-151 lying on a table in the corner, and for all the weapons there were case upon case of ammo, fuel canisters, or rockets, depending on the weapons. "So much to choose from and so little time" I thought as I grabbed a M6G, a M392, a M90, and several M9 HE DPG, T1 APG, and Napalm grenades, then to finish it off I took a W/AV M6G/GNR, aka SpartanLaser. Then I went and stocked ammo for all the weapons, "Well that ought to do it" I said to myself as I heard the door open and several figures come in. I hear a voice say "Sir, WolfPack reporting for duty", and then another, definitely not human add "Strike team CleansingFlame at your command". "Well, we all know who each other is and why we're here so let's get down to it shall we, arm up and then meet me in the hanger for pre-mission briefing" I replied.

A/N: Thank you all for reading, this is going kinda slow, but I already have part 1 written out so next chapter will come soon… I hope. Till later XXBlueDude2XX out


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: And here's the second chapter of Operation FIRESTORM, enjoy.

Chapter 2

Fleet: United we Stand. Ship: The Face of Danger. Location: Geo-Sync orbit of Gamma Centauri.

As I arrived at the hanger I saw my new team lined up at attention. Their armor was interesting, for it was obviously modified, like my own. IceWolf had dark blue Mk IV, with a jet pack and an energy sword holster, quite unusual. StarFox had Dark Green Scout, with Camouflage Panels, sure to come in handy this mission. PainKiller had Pink CQB, with a medpack holder attached to his storage pack. I myself had dark grey, almost black Rogue, with red highlights and a steel blue visor with a jet pack. As to our weapons, I had a M90 on my back, a M6G in its holster, and a Ma5C in my hands. IceWolf had a BR55HB SR on his back, an Energy Sword in its aforementioned holster and had his M6G out and ready. StarFox had a 99D on his back, with a M6G in its holster with a M7 silenced in hand. PainKiller had a DMR and a M319 on his back, in his hands he also held a M90. All in all we were pretty much a four man army. We were strike Team WolfPack. "At ease" I told them, "This is now my strike team and I would prefer if we could forget the pleasantries and act like the fighting men we are, equal in our own right". "Now here's the mission plan HighComm has given me" I said as I activated the holotank in front of us. "We will enter by the south wall using the W/AV M6G/GNR, or as I like to call it the Splaser, we will cut a hole in the wall and enter while StarFox gives us overwatch. Then we will enter this small building here, standard breach and clear formation, shotty up front, rifles behind. We will then secure the package and escape through the north where a pelican will be waiting. However, time is of the essence as the URF will be shipping the nukes to Covenant space at 1000 hours. It is 0700 now so we only have about 3 hours to get it and evac". "Sir, if I may, how will we get to the installation" asked StarFox. "IceWolf and I will take a M12 FAV, equipped with a M14 LAAG. You and PainKiller will take a M274 ULATV, aka Mongoose. We will break through enemy patrols eliminating any and all opposition. You will be dropped off at this over look here for overwatch, but if visibility is exceptionally bad you can call for a pelican to use for snipe-and-fly ops, while PainKiller will join up with IceWolf and me for the assault". "What is the projected enemy count" asked IceWolf. "About five to six hundred total" I replied "but we are Spartans, we will overcome this opposition and we will win. Fall out". As they left a new group arrived, I realized it was our Sangheili friends. "How goes it Spartan" asked Silever. "It's going pretty well, what about you, you ready for the coming battle?" I responded. "We are always ready to do battle when the time comes, though I would much prefer peace. There has been too much blood shed these past years. I have not seen my family for many months, what with the URF becoming a threat" he answered. "I agree, better to keep peace than die fighting for it" I replied. "Well I must go and prepare my team for the coming skirmish; I shall see you on the battle field Spartan. May the gods be with you" He said before walking away with the Unggoy marching along behind. "Strike teams WolfPack and CleansingFlame report to the hanger for transport to your objective" I heard over the loudspeaker. As I dashed off to the hanger I couldn't help thinking "operation FIRESTORM, I wonder who thought that one up".

A/N: Constructive criticism is appreciated, please review. I want three reviews or no chapter three.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Here's chapter 3, and thanks Mastermind416 for the advice I think it helped a lot.

Chapter 3

Pelican: 314. Location: Geo-Sync orbit of Gamma Centauri. Destination: Surface of Madrigal.

Once we arrive at the hanger we boarded the two pelicans taking us and our vehicles down to the surface, the Sangheili in one, us in the other.

"Going hot in ten" came over the loud speakers.

"Alright strap in, it's gonna get bumpy, scanners pickup what appears to be Mk 2488 MACs, and other smaller AA guns" I said.

"Three, two, one, launch", we heard over the pelican's comm. As we left the ships artificial gravity we felt that familiar feeling that you would soon remember what you had for breakfast. Over the radio chatter we started to hear, then feel as the planet side MACs opened up.

"CleansingFlame, how's it going over there?" I asked.

"Good for now WolfPack, but were taking heavy fire, we might need to bug out soon if this keeps up for long" answered Silever.

"Alright keep me updated on your condition till land fall" I replied.

"WolfPack, this is CleansingFlame we lost a wing and are …."came back a few seconds later.

"CleansingFlame, repeat last transmission, over" I said.

"Sir the other pelican was just destroyed, it took a direct hit" our pilot answered.

"Well it looks like we're on our own WolfPack, prepare to go hot, they sure as heck know were here now" I told the squad.

"Touch down, going hot in five" we heard.

"Alright everyone you know the drill, complete your objectives then regroup for evac.

As soon as we touched down the pelican dropped its load of the Warthog, and opened the bay door, though we were about three meters off the ground we jumped it easily and mounted up and roared off across the plains. We got about within a kilometer and we saw something coming towards us at high speed.

As they got closer we noticed they were Hogs like ours, but without the LAAG on the back. Once within range, small arms fire erupted from the enemy vehicles, we returned fire, and were soon rewarded by five burned out hulks. As we progressed we encountered another squad of Hogs but these had LAAGs, and one even had an impromptu rocket launcher on it.

As we engaged, I realized we ought to be moving faster, it was already 0830 hours, not much time left. I yelled to Star Fox to use the Splaser on the modified Hog, while IceWolf would use the M41 SSR MAV/AW he had brought. A series of explosion that got closer and closer to hitting us indicated we were in the RocketHogs sights.

"Now would be a good time StarFox" I yelled. The resulting explosion of the RocketHog was enough to flip another that had been beside it, brutally smashing the occupants. Only three left but we were taking heavy fire so IceWolf fired his launcher and missed on his first attempt, but utterly destroyed it on his second.

"Reloading" he reported as we continued evasive maneuvers, for though we had shields, even they wouldn't be enough against a weapon of that caliber, with such a high ROF.

We soon dispatched the last two Hogs, and continued on our way. We now had only one hour, ten minutes to retrieve the bombs. Thankfully we reached the base without any more distractions, and were in position at 0900 hours.

A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I already have Chapter 5 written out, just smoothing everything now. If you want Chapter 4 I need to see four reviews. As always constructive criticism is appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Location: Surface of Madrigal.

"Do it" I said.

PainKiller charged up the Splaser, then let loose with a beam of red light, quickly cutting a hole large enough to enter, and we all jumped through. I was in front, shotgun at the ready, while the other two covered me with rifles.

We opened fire just about the second we got through, quickly taking out a squad of troopers, armed with SMGs. As we came around a corner another squad opened up on us pushing us back, taking cover behind the corner.

As they stopped firing, I jump-jetted up the building we were against, reaching the roof in three seconds. I ran along the roof as I again heard the enemy open fire, as my teammates drew their fire. I reach a section of the roof that was parallel to, yet slightly behind their formation.

In a flash I jumped down almost in the middle of them, I whipped out my M6G and shot one in the head, while caving another's face in with my fist. Then I dropped my M6G and drew my knife and lunged at ones throat, slicing it in an instance, and then dropping to the ground as the others turned and shot where I had been half a second before. Throwing myself with my hands and lower arms, I reached out with my leg and tripped two and stabbing a third, then standing back up and dispatching the two on the ground.

I heard a voice and turned as the last troop, probably a Sergeant from his bars, said "Freeze or I will shoot you".

I replied "You realize your outnumbered four to one".

He looked around seeing his teammates dead, and in that moment of hesitation I threw my knife, hitting him in the throat, silencing him forever. I walked over and picked up my pistol, putting it back in its holster and wiping my knife on one of the dead troop's armor.

"Well that went well" said StarFox.

"You could have helped" retorted IceWolf.

As we made our way to the center of town we easily dispatched several more squads, and finally reached the center. We entered a building and made our way to the top, peering out over the edge of the roof we saw about thirty troops standing guard over a large crate which must have been the package.

"Well boss, what's the plan" asked PainKiller.

"You go left, Ice you go right, encircle and eliminate" I replied.

"Fox, why don't you thin'em out a bit" I added.

"To right boss" came back.

"All right when you're ready flash back" I ordered.

Soon, three green acknowledgement lights flashed.

"All right lets go, go, go". I said, as I charged in, quickly followed by IceWolf and PainKiller, while I saw four guards fall to the ground and a split second later heard four soft retorts from Star Fox's sniper rifle.

"Contacts down" I said "Lets mop up the rest".

We jumped down to the ground, and I pulled out my M90 and pumped three guards full of lead before it jammed. "Crap" I said pulling out my M6G and popping off four headshots before pulling my knife and lunging at a guard and slitting his throat, and then threw it about ten meters into the chest of another, and raising my magnum to finish off the rest.

Suddenly, over the noise of combat I looked up and saw a Covenant Spirit beginning to lift off with the package, secured by way of an anti-grav generator on the underside.

At that moment IceWolf looked up and screamed "Nooooo" as it took off.

IceWolf pulled the M41 up and locked target and fired. A second before it hit the Spirit set off flares causing the rocket to miss. He fired the second round but was too far away to get a lock and it was shot down before impact.

"Well this just sucks" said StarFox over the radio.

"You got that right dude" answered PainKiller.

"Well that's it, it's over" said IceWolf softly.

"No, I have a feeling it's just started" I supposed, little did I know how true it was.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Fleet: United we Stand. Ship: The Face of Danger. Location: In Slip-Space tracking Covenant Remnant CSS-Class Battle Cruiser, Glory to the Gods Everlasting, containing The Package.

We got back to the ship and were finished getting debriefed on our mission and had met in the armory to discuss the different elements of our team.

"Well IceWolf, now that I'm in command what is your specific input to the team" I asked.

"Well sir, I am qualified as a Mechanic" he replied.

"As a matter of fact I had this made for you, something of a welcome to the team gift".

He then proceeded to open a crate and take out what appeared to be a thirty mike-mike LMG with a shoulder mount and a backpack for ammo.

"What the heck is it" I exclaimed.

"It's a shoulder-mounted .30 caliber light machine gun, I like to call it the Confetti Maker" he answered.

"Um Ok, but I'm not sure about the name" I said.

"Well I made it, so I name it. Live with it", he answered.

"Ok fine, whatever" I responded.

"And as for you StarFox, a little present for you" he said opening another crate. "This is a Model 99 Special Applications Scoped Rifle, thought you might like it for a bit more punch for you to pack".

"Hey man thanks, this will come in handy for anti-vehicle ops" StarFox replied.

"Well it can take out a Warthog in two rounds and will obliterate a mongoose" he answered.

"Ok team, let's go get briefed on our next mission" I interrupted.

"Just one more thing boss" IceWolf said "I got something for Arvo here, a belt-fed semi-auto M6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Carbine; I thought you might like it".

"Ok enough with the semi-legal weapons; let's just go get briefed for our next mission" I said.

A moment later the door opened and in came Sgt. Mann, our immediate superior. In an instance we were on our feet at attention.

"At ease Spartans, just here to drop off something" he said.

Stepping through the door, and around Mann came a young woman, who had black hair and was very pale like us, from being inside armor for most of the time.

"This is Spartan SR-2013, her name is Gina Broke" Mann continued.

"Umm, hi guys what's up" Gina said.

"Gina welcome to WolfPack, I'm Jack, this is Don, John, and Arvo" I said pointing to us in turn.

"Well Gina, what's your specialty" asked Caos.

"Hand to Hand, CQB type stuff" she replied.

"Ok I've got just the thing" he answered, opening a weapon locker.

What he pulled out was a Katana.

"Wow, thanks" Gina said.

"No problem" replied Caos.

She took the Katana and was checking its balance when we heard over the loud speakers "Operation FIRESTORM 2.0 is a go. Repeat, Operation FIRESTORM 2.0 is a go".

We quickly headed out to get into armor, and get to the hangar. When we met again in armor I was surprised by the newbies choice. It was a hot pink with white highlights Hayabusa style armor, and with the Katana it looked awesome.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Fleet: United we Stand. Ship: The Face of Danger. Location: Edge of Covenant Remnant space, engaging Remnant Fleet: Never Ending Promise. As we were about to board the pelican we heard over the comm, "WolfPack please report to launch bay thirteen, on the double".

We hurried off to the launch bay and IceWolf openly wondered "Why are we going to launch bay thirteen, that's for EVA operations only".

"No idea, but we better hurry, I just got a report saying a Covenant fleet engaged us" I said.

Sure enough we soon felt a deep rumbling thud, indicating our MAC gun was firing. Suddenly a huge crash shook the ship, which was a plasma torpedo hit, and would've knocked us off our feet but we kept going, SPARTANS don't fall.

In the back of my mind, in that corner that calculates your odds of survival and initiates your fight or flight instinct, I was going over the ships stats. The Face of Danger was a heavy frigate, armed with a MAC gun, SHIVA nuclear missiles, ARCHER Missile pods, point defense guns, and even the new experimental twin Rail gun turrets. It was the most powerful frigate in the UNSC NAVY; it was also the home of WolfPack, and for now, my home.

Once we arrived at the launch bay we were met by an officer, Lance Corporal Tim Jones.

"Right then, since we are engaging the covenant fleet head-on we can't get close enough to the Glory to the Gods Everlasting, so looks like you guys are going EVA for this one".

"Well if you expect us to assault a CSS-class Battlecruiser, you better have something good for us to fly" I responded.

"Oh, well you're in for a pleasant surprise." Jones said, "We happen to have five Open Frame 92/EVAs ready and waiting".

"Ok WolfPack lets go and get back our bombs" I said over Squad-Comm.

We proceeded to mount our OF 92/EVAs and then, with sirens screaming, the bay depressurized.

As we unhooked and took off I said "PainKiller and StarFox go together, IceWolf and I will take FlashFury, see you on the other side.

By the time we were out of the hangar I had done a systems check on my booster frame and discovered it had been upgraded. It was equipped with a M92 Gauss Cannon, two 80mm Ball-mounted Rotary Cannons, twelve MITV Pods, and a M41 ELAAGat for a rear gunner if necessary.

As soon as we were in open space I was cut off from the rest of my team, confident that they could take care of themselves I took off, full speed ahead to the Battlecruiser. As soon as I got within 1200/km it started launching an assortment of Type-27 XMFs, and Type-31 XMFs. Once within range I opened up with the Gauss Cannon and 80-mms. Twisting and rolling I managed to take out several enemy craft when I heard FlashFury over Squad-Comm

"Rogue we might have a problem, the fighters have hit one of my engines and I am losing power".

"Ok" I replied "Keep you current heading, I'll meet up with you and give you a lift".

"Will do, boss" came back.

We came side by side a few minutes later and FlashFury leapt over to my Booster-Frame and manned the M41 ELAAGat.

As we continued cutting through the Covenant swarm FlashFury commented "Like a hot knife through butter" gaining a quick laugh from me.

Once we got within 1/km of the ship I could see the others following a short distance behind, a short time later the Battlecruiser opened fire with its Pulse Laser turrets, forcing us to dodge and weave in an attempt to survive the next few minutes as we hurtled towards our goal. As we got within a few hundred meters the Covenant finally seemed to realize we were going to board them. In an attempt to ward us off, they closed the hanger doors.

"WolfPack this is Lead, concentrate Gauss Cannon fire on the bay doors" I said.

I watched as the Cannon charged sixty, sixty five percent. After a few more seconds of waiting the Cannon was charged, during this time FlashFury and I had been successfully dodging fire from both the Battlecruiser and other star fighters while managing to take out several of them ourselves.

"Fire on my mark, three…two…one…Mark" I said.

Our concentrated fire easily blew a hole in the door large enough to enter in. We started breaking hard, and once inside we bailed out of the Booster Frames and used armor-lock to survive hitting the wall at excess of 500/kph.

I started to get up but was immediately knocked off my feet and the world started to fade to blackness, I noticed with slight amusement that a plasma torpedo had hit the bay. The Covenant Loyalist fleet had decided that we were such high value targets they would destroy a whole CSS- Class Battle Cruiser, and four Nova bombs to kill us, unless…unless it was a trap and the bombs weren't here after all.

As that reality dawned I passed into darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Ship: Glory to the Gods Everlasting. Location: edge of Covenant Remnant space, engaging Remnant fleet: Never Ending Promise.

I awoke to PainKiller shaking my shoulder, as I sat up pain lanced up my side. Looking down I saw a plasma burn running up from my waist to my shoulder. Already the pain was easing as the burn was coated in Bio-Foam.

Getting up much to the displeasure of my side, I said "They're not here".

"What aren't here" asked Pain.

"The bombs, they aren't here" I answered,

"Why else would they shoot at us".

"It makes sense, the Covenant wouldn't waste these bombs, they know they can destroy Earth if the get close enough" said Flash.

With that agreed I looked around, taking in the situation. We still had most of the weapons we came in with; though I doubted we would need them seeing as the ship would be a designated suicide zone.

"Is everyone Ok" I asked.

"Good to go" said StarFox.

After everyone called in I realized someone was missing.

"Where's IceWolf" I asked.

"Um, well in the explosion he got hit in the head with plasma coil" reported PainKiller, "He will have a severe concussion but otherwise will be fine".

"Good, why don't you wake him up" I said.

"Don't have to boss, I'm up" answered Ice who was proceeding to stand up, though staggering slightly.

"Well then let's get going then; we have to get off before the ship blows" I said.

Since we would likely face little opposition I told them to travel light and then picked up my shotgun. Once everyone reported back that they were ready, I looked back and checked their weapons. Ice was packing his energy sword, Fox had a DMR, Pain had his Splaser Carbine, Flash had her katana, and we all had our M6Gs and ammo for all. While looking around I had also uncovered a crate of point defense gauntlets, usually carried by Kig-Yar, and gave one to each.

We started running down the corridors and came around a corner and found several Unggoy rushing towards us, probably heading to the hangar we just left. Without slowing I fired my shotgun and hit two with the blast, killing them.

The ship shook again, another torpedo hit, but we kept running and made it to the bridge in a few more minutes. Glancing over the readouts I saw that the ship only had a few minutes left before the reactor went critical, it was already at seventy nine percent and rising. Looking over at the hangar control station, I saw there was still a type-52 transport in one of the hangars. Looking over a schematic I saw it wasn't too far from here.

"There's still a phantom left in hangar nine, we gotta go now if we're gonna get to a safe distance" I said.

"Well what are we waiting for" Star said, as he took off running, which for a SPARTAN is about 32/kph. We arrived at the hangar without any further encounters and climbed aboard the Phantom.

"So does anyone know how to fly this thing" I asked, "Why is everyone looking at me".

"Well boss for one you're the only qualified pilot" said Pain.

"Fine" I said and made my way to the cockpit.

We exited the hangar and took off full speed ahead. Flash came up beside me and got on the radio and hailed the Face of Danger.

"Face of Danger, this is WolfPack 0-4" she said, "We are coming at you in a Phantom, broadcasting IFF on all channels, do not fire, repeat do not fire on Phantom marked as friendly, how copy".

"This is Face of Danger AirControl, solid copy on no fire on Phantom marked as friendly; over" came back, "You are cleared for hanger four, and then report to the bridge".

"Solid copy Face of Danger AC, hangar four, WolfPack out" flash responded.

"Hangar four it is then" I answered.

"Hey Rogue, take a look out back" called Star.

I looked at my rear scanner and saw as the ship we just left exploded.

Once back on the Face of Danger we went immediately to the bridge and saw Captain Dereck Mearings standing beside a holo-representation of Admiral Hood.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Yeah, I haven't written in a while, I kinda (I added "kinda" to my Microsoft word 2010 dictionary just there) lost the story cause I wasn't sure where I wanted it to go but now I have somewhat of an idea so thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy: Operation: FIRESTORM Chapter 8.

Chapter 8

Ship: Face of Danger. Location: Edge of Covenant Remnant Space, disengaging from Remnant Fleet: Never Ending Promise.

We entered the bridge and stood at attention as the captain continued his conference with Fleet Admiral Hood, he seemed agitated to say the least.

"Fleet Admiral Hood and I just finished our conversation regarding your failure on this mission, you have a choice to make here" he said angrily, "I would prefer you be court martialed for failure to complete the objective. However the old fool Hood thought you would be more use to us as a Code GR-1 "asset" to use their term."

I looked at the team, they all had somewhat disappointed looks on their faces, court martial was bad but a GR-1 "asset" could potentially be worse.

"Sir, what is a GR-1?" I asked nervously.

At this point Don comes up behind me and taps me on the shoulder, saying over our comms, "Jack, GR-1 is a project by a branch of the military associated with the SPARTAN Project, however I cannot enter any of their files, it's being guarded by a very powerful AI".

I nodded thanks to him before turning back to the captain, "Sir we will volunteer for the GR-1 program".

He looked at me surprised; he probably thought we would be scared out of volunteering.

"You realize that all the SPARTANs that volunteered for the GR-1 program were never heard of again, including my son, Fred Mearings".

"Yes sir, we realize the risk, but I figure that my team and I would rather spend the rest of our lives helping Humanity in some way, than sit in a cell".

"Yes, I suppose that makes sense, fighting men like yourselves and I hate to sit idle, waiting for something to happen, so I will send your answer to the Fleet Admiral later tonight, dismissed."

We left the bridge and headed back to our rooms which were separate from the rest of the ship, my team being the only SPARTANs onboard got to use the specially designed space without anyone else.

I flashed my card by the reader and enter my room; walking to the back corner of the room I hit a button to open my armor storage locker. I stepped into the small room and several robotic arms reached down and secured my armor, then more arms came down and loosened all the bolts necessary for the chest piece to open so that I could pull my arms out then reach up and grab two bars to pull myself out of my leg pieces it may not be the most comfortable way to get out of my armor, but it sure was the fastest, if we stood and let the four or so techs take it off it would take over fifteen minutes.

Walking over to the bathroom I took off my unitard and showered quickly, before putting on my casual clothes consisting of sweat pants and a white T-shirt. I looked down the hallway to Don's room to see him exit and head towards me.

"So Jack, you up for some video games?" he asked.

"Yeah, that sound great, what kinds do we have, I haven't been onboard long enough to even go into the entertainment room" I answered.

"Neither have I actually" he replied with a laugh.

We walked together to the entertainment room where we started scrolling through the titles under FPS. The system we were using was a new one, not even available to Civilian buyers; I guess being in the military had its advantages.

I myself was a lover of video games, especially FPS or TPS. I was cleaning out my mother's basement, my father having died many years ago, she was getting ready to move to assisted living quarters, when I came upon a box of several old titles including Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Mass Effect. When I asked my mother about them she said they had belonged to my father, also an avid gamer. The amazing thing was that the whole series of each was in the box in prime condition.

So it didn't take long for me to choose a game from the list, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. After importing mine and Don's online profiles, Don and I set about a Survival match on a map called Overwatch, included in one of the DLC's which I purchased with a few credits I had saved.

We entered the game and were immediately interrupted by a message saying, "This game is now available for Neural Interface Control, would you like to enable, Yes. No."

I looked over at Don saying, "Should we?"

"Sure, we'll probably be better since we will be able to control our characters at the speed of thought" he replied excitedly.

I hit "Yes" and immediately the game resumed, but without controller input.

Since it controlled over our NI's, whatever we thought, our character would do, ending up in much quicker gameplay.

We quickly finished the first wave enabling the Weapons Armory, which I ran over too, and entered. Choosing a weapon was easy, I already knew which Rifle I wanted. I took an ACR with ACOG scope and Lambda reticle, with an underslung Grenade Launcher.

Don on the other hand, waited until Wave 3 or so before spending some points on a P99 Handgun. Then we fought off a helo and a heavily armored ground unit called a Juggernaut, which reminded me of a ODST with more armor and less brains, however the next wave had attack dogs which apparently have C4(a very outdated explosive compound) on their back, which would explode if they were killed.

After playing this for several hours we got bored and I went to the gym and got on the treadmill. Setting it for a light jog at about 12/kph I turned on my music and enjoyed some Linkin Park, Breaking Benjamin, and All-American Rejects.

Twelve Hours Later…

I woke up to a message being played across ship-board comms, "All personnel, please report to Cryo for the remainder of the journey"

I sat up and looked at my chrono, seeing I had slept for about eight hours I smiled to myself, that was more sleep than I sometimes got in a week while on a mission, also never go into Cryo while tired, contrary to what most people think, it actually makes it worse to wake up, I mean, throwing up vile tasting fluid/gel is bad enough, but then add sleep loss to that. Also Cryo does not rest you at all, if anything it makes you more sleepy.

Looking up towards the ceiling I asked the ship AI Crystal "How long will we be in Cryo-Sleep?"

"About two weeks, according to my calculations" she replied.

"Thanks Crystal" I said as I got up and put my unitard on, one thing I learned about Cryo, don't cover as much of your body as possible, it can cause freezer burn, which on a pound of beef, really isn't that bad, but try a leg or arm, yeah, you get the picture.

I walked to Cryo and stripped out of my unitard and neatly folded it on the chair next to my pod, leaving me in my boxers, which I then took off and layed on the chair on top of my unitard. I then stepped into the pod and hit the activate button.

While you're in Cryo sleep, the scientists say it's impossible for people to dream, but I know differently, I have dreams, the bad side is, they are always nightmares. They are different from time to time but always with the same feeling of helplessness, that you can't move fast enough, your legs are moving but so slowly it doesn't matter.

As I felt the cold liquid filling my lungs I felt a sense of dread knowing the nightmares would come. Lately they were all the same, I was looking at a ledge of rock and I could see a young girl sitting close to the edge, she would look at me with a sense of finality, like she had done something that couldn't be undone. She would then slowly fall off the cliff, not trying to catch a hold of the rock somewhere, as if she wanted to fall , I would dive for her trying to catch her, but I was moving to slow, I wouldn't make it, and then just before I would reach her she would fall and I would lay there on the edge watching. I couldn't turn away as I watched her face, smile up at me like everything would be OK, before she hit the bottom, I don't need to explain the rest.

My doctor had told me it was my sense of guilt over killing all the people the sympathized with the Covenant, but he was wrong, those people made a choice, I killed them because their choice differed from mine, it wasn't personal, but then again, taking a human life should always be personal, if you could kill and not feel anything then you were a sick person who doesn't deserve to live.

The one thing to always remember is this: Life, both human and alien, always has value, maybe not value as in money, but you should never throw away Life, it is the most valuable thing in the universe. When someone asks me how many people or aliens I have killed I tell them that if you count how many lives you've taken instead of the ones you have saved then you're a fool.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys, I hope you are enjoying the story, I'm open to any and all constructive criticism, by the way thanks Anonymous for the correction, I originally started this story BEFORE Halo 4 appeared to the public, so I had no knowledge of a later version. I'm going to stick with the older version of the BR for Don Caos(just so everyone knows its pronounced as "Chaos") 'cause my friend who is the model for the character likes it better, he says the new one looks like a jacked up Famas(just added the to my dictionary too) from Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. I suppose I should also do a disclaimer so I don't get sued. I don't own Halo, CoD, BF, ME, or any other major (or minor) video game companies (yet). I also don't own any characters from the afore mention games, and I do not intend to profit in anyway (except my pride) from this fictional work


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